Thought for 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

JOHN 2:1-11
There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
— although the servers who had drawn the water knew —,
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
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This Sunday we have the famous story of Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding at Cana. It is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. There are other deeper meanings as we look at the story more closely.

First of all, the image of the wedding is used in Scripture as an image of God’s desire for union and intimacy with His people. For example, in the first reading today we hear: “As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you.” Do you realize that God delights in you? The Builder of the universe wants to have a deep, intimate relationship with you.

So with that in mind, let us look at the wedding at Cana. Again, the wedding is an image of God’s desire to unite with His people. Jesus, Mary and the disciples were invited to the wedding. Mary tells Jesus, “They have no wine.” It is important to notice Mary’s role as one who watches out for and intercedes for her children. She whispers our needs and intentions into the ear of her Son.

This statement is also important as it speaks to the divine life in Israel. They had rejected all of God’s attempts to reach out to them in love with various covenants through Moses, Abraham, David, etc. The wine symbolized the presence of God among them. They had run out of wine. But now Jesus has come to us to offer us the opportunity to live in His divine life. Jesus united God and man in His own person. He became man so that we could become like God.

At first Jesus resists His mother’s plea to help saying that “my hour has not yet come”. And now we have the last words of Mary in the Gospel of John, “Do whatever He tells you.” These are prophetic words not just to the waiters at the wedding, but to all of Israel, and to you and me. When we do what Jesus tells us to do, when we live a life of grace, when we follow the Lord’s commands, we are full of divine life, peace, hope and joy. But when we do our own thing, when we live in sin, when we follow our own passions, our lives are empty, restless and hopeless.

Jesus then turns the water into wine. They are amazed at the wonderful taste of this wine. This is the finest wine ever produced – God became man to save us. And this points us to the Sacrament of the Eucharist. We bring to the Lord simple elements of bread and wine, and He turns it into His very Body and Blood. His desire is to be one with us at this marriage banquet.

That is why some churches have baldechinos above their altars. These are pillars on each side of the altar that represent a marriage bed. It is from this altar and the altar of the cross that Jesus shows us how much He loves us and desires to be one with us. “This is my body, given up for you. This is my blood, poured out for you.” God delights in you and wants to be one with you in the Eucharist.

Do you believe that God delights in you?
Do you do whatever Jesus tells you to do?
Do you receive the Eucharist knowing that God wants to unite Himself to you?

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Thank you, Father Masters. Your daily thoughts have been a great inspiration to me. My spiritual journey has been greatly impacted by your unique interpretation of The word of God. May the Holy Sprit continue to guide you in your evangelization.